Time Is Ticking
by ProLazy
Summary: Prompt: Dean is able to see a number above peoples' heads but he has no idea what happens when it reaches zero. One day Castiel is ill and his number starts to tick...


Dean let himself into Castiel's apartment and quickly began his search. He was very concerned as Castiel had missed their morning phone call and that was a very rare occurrence; like most people needed coffee Dean and Castiel could not began to function through the day without speaking to each other first.

Dean went up to his boyfriend's bedroom and found him still hunkered down underneath the covers; he appeared to be halfway between lucid and sleeping.

"Cas?" Dean said softy as he approached the bed and knelt down beside his lover. "Are you alright, baby?"

Castiel made a noise a kin to a groan as he rolled over to face Dean. He blinked sluggishly. The only other things visible were his sniffling nose and a tuft of hair as he had the quilt wrapped tightly around himself.

"Oh, Dean" he said hoarsely. "Did I miss our call? I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Sweetheart" Dean replied. He frowned sadly as he pulled the duvet back slightly and ran his hand soothingly through Castiel's hair. "Are you sick?"

Castiel gave a small nod.

"It's just a cold. I woke up this morning with a cough and a sore throat. Now I'm a little headachy too."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sweetheart" Dean cooed. "You just stay right here then and let me take care of you."

"Okay" Castiel sighed. "That would be nice. But don't stay too close; I don't want you to get ill."

"You're worth getting sick for" Dean stated with a small smile before pressing a gentle kiss to Castiel's forehead. "You're a little warm too" he fretted.

"Could you get me some medicine from the cabinet?" Castiel asked.

"Sure" Dean said. He gave his boyfriend's hand a reassuring squeeze before heading to the bathroom.

Once he located the correct bottle Dean went to return to Castiel but before he even stepped into the room he froze in his tracks. His eyes widened with alarm and his hands started to tremble. Something about Castiel had changed, and it scared Dean more than anything else.

Ever since he was a little boy Dean remembered being able to view numbers above people's heads. It was apparently a 'quirk' some people were born with and it both haunted and fascinated Dean as he had never found out what happened when that number hit zero.

Castiel's number had always been well up in the thousands...but now it had suddenly dropped all the way down to 60.

Dean was panicking. It couldn't be a coincidence that Castiel was sick and now his number had dropped dramatically. Dean had heard the rumours...about zero meaning the end.

He shook his head and told himself to snap out of it. Castiel just had a cold; there was no way his health could deteriorate that quickly...right?

"Dean?" Castiel called out weakly. "Are you alright?"

Castiel knew about Dean's extra ability, but Dean did not have the heart to tell him that his number had suddenly changed. There was no point in worrying Castiel as it might mean nothing at all; Dean just had to make sure to get his boyfriend better.

"Yeah, sorry. Just remembered something I've gotta do later" Dean lied before quickly re-taking his position beside Castiel. "Do you feel any worse?"

"No; you've been gone like thirty seconds" Castiel said a little amusedly. "But I don't feel better either."

"Maybe you should go to a doctor?" Dean pushed.

"I don't want to bother a doctor about a cold, Dean" Castiel replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes" Castiel said as he took Dean's hand.

Dean was about to relent but then Castiel's number ticked to 59.

"Well I'm not so sure."

"Sweetheart, please don't be so worried" Castiel urged. "If I can just rest and have some of that medicine I'll be fine; I promise."

Dean was deeply inclined to believe him as Castiel has never broken a promise to him before; it gave him faith that whatever happened when that number hit zero would not take Castiel away from him, but that didn't mean Dean wouldn't try to lower that possibility in any way that he could.

"Okay" he replied quietly.

He made sure to read the label on the medicine very carefully and when it came to pouring out the correct quantity he made sure that it was the exact amount; not a single drop more or less.

"Thank you" Castiel said with a small smile. He took the cap full of medicine from Dean and swallowed the brown liquid down with a grimace. After he handed the cap back Dean made sure to check every last speck was gone. "That really tastes awful" Castiel verified.

"Taste...food. Good idea!" Dean exclaimed eagerly. "My mom's tomato soup has never failed to make anyone feel better."

"Well, I'm not very hungry right now-"

"You've gotta eat, baby" Dean insisted. "We've got to keep your strength up."

"Alright" Castiel relented, more for the fact he wanted to give his boyfriend peace of mind.

Dean kissed his the smaller man's cheek in gratitude. He looked up at Castiel's number and saw that it had dropped down to 55. After that Dean didn't waste time in hurrying down to the kitchen.

Fortunately the soup's ingredients were nothing rare so Castiel had everything in stock.

Dean had to find a balance between getting in made speedily and making sure it was cooked perfectly with the correct nutritional value.

When he went back to Castiel's room he found the smaller man lightly dozing, and his number had dropped down to 42.

"Hey, c'mon sleepy head" Dean said as he shook Castiel's shoulder with a little more force than necessary; he just wanted to be sure his boyfriend was still with him.

"Oh, that was quick" Castiel commented as Dean helped him sit up. Dean carefully placed a tray on Castiel's lap which had a bowl of soup and a glass of water.

"You want me to feed it to you?" Dean asked nervously.

"No, I think I'll be alright" Castiel chuckled.

Watching Castiel slowly spoon in each mouthful was a painstaking experience for Dean. He needed Castiel to start getting better quickly, but by the time he had finished eating the smaller man's number had ticked down to 28.

"Thank you, my love" Castiel said which broke Dean out of his stupor. "That was delicious."

"Good, I'm glad" Dean replied. He removed the tray with shaky hands which didn't go unnoticed by Castiel.

"Are you starting to feel unwell too?" He fretted. "You do look a bit pale."

"No, no. I'm fine" Dean insisted. "I just can't stop worrying."

"Would it help if you lay with me?" Castiel asked with a small smile. "We can cuddle, but no kissing."

"I think I can manage that" Dean smirked; he just needed to keep an eye on his love.

He crawled into the bed and lay beside Castiel, but he could still feel the slightly elevated heat radiating from his partner's body.

"I'm going to open the window" Dean said as he hurriedly scrambled off the bed again and pulled all the bedcovers back; Castiel let out a small whine of dismay. Dean opened the window as far as it would go but was not satisfied with the breeze. "I'm going to get something to cool you down" he said before dashing out of the room.

He returned only moments later with a damp cloth which he placed across Castiel's forehead. The smaller man gasped from the cold sting but Dean merely hushed him gently.

"D-Dean?" Castiel said through chattering teeth after a few minutes passed. "I'm f-freezing."

Dean looked alarmed and removed the rag before placing his hand against Castiel's skin; it was indeed chilly to the touch. Dean checked the number again which ticked to 21; a great horror struck him that he might in fact have just made things worse.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."

He threw the cloth on the floor and went to close the window. He then gathered up all the covers and wrapped them around Castiel so that he looked similar to a human burrito. Dean sat behind him and pulled him into his arms and started to profusely rub his hands up and down Castiel's side.

"Dean, I know that you just want to help" Castiel mumbled as the duvet was obstructing him. "But I really think if I could just get some more sleep-"

"No! No, you can't close your eyes" Dean begged; he did not even remotely let up from his position.

"Dean, sweetheart, please" Castiel said calmly despite the fact he felt like he was beginning to cook inside of his cocoon.

Dean finally stopped as he noticed just how flushed Castiel's cheeks were. He unwrapped his boyfriend and allowed him to lie in the bed as he would normally.

"Sorry...so sorry...love you" he murmured the whole time.

"You have nothing to be sorry for" Castiel assured him. "But...maybe just let me have a little peace on my own, hum? I think that might be good for both of us."

Dean wanted to argue but he felt like if he did he would just break down in tears. If these really were Castiel's last few moments - as the number moved to 14 - he really didn't want to spend them apart, but there was also a good chance they wouldn't be and he was just making Castiel more exhausted; he didn't want his love to suffer because of him.

"Okay" Dean said quietly. "Call if you need anything."

He solemnly trudged away and left the door slightly ajar behind him.

Castiel felt very guilty as he watched his partner go but he was concerned about making Dean sick, or his boyfriend in fact making himself sick from worry and stress at the rate he was going.

Castiel closed his eyes momentarily but something didn't feel right. He looked over at the door and saw the bridge of a nose and two bright green eyes watching him. Castiel laughed lightly and shook his head before patting the bed beside him.

"C'mon."

Dean burst into the room without further persuasion and scrambled into the bed. He spooned Castiel from behind; the smaller man sighed with content as he melted into his boyfriend's embrace.

As the number dropped below 10 Dean couldn't bring himself to look at it anymore. He wrapped his arms even tighter around Castiel and buried his face in the smaller man's hair; he wanted to remember his feel and scent.

As the time passed it felt like hours more than minutes to Dean. He knew that Castiel's number must almost be at zero and the terror within him was escalating tenfold as he had no idea what would happen once it got there.

"Cas, I love you" he said quietly and close to tears. "I love you so much, okay."

"I love you t-"

Castiel's body suddenly went rigid. Dean's breath caught and the tears finally flowed from his eyes as he thought this was it.

"No, please don't go" he begged quietly.

"ACHOO!"

Dean pulled back with alarm. Castiel sat up and reached fora a tissue before blowing his nose.

Dean's eyes widened with shock as he looked up and saw Castiel's number had reset. So that was it, zero meant sneezing?

"I'm sorry" Castiel mumbled as I'd finished wiping his nose. "This isn't very attractive."

"Are you kidding? It's friggin' beautiful!" Dean exclaimed as he tackled Castiel back into the bed and started peppering kisses all over his face.

"Dean" Castiel giggled. "What an earth has gotten into you today?"

"I'll explain later" Dean said as he finally relented his kiss attack. "I think I just found out my purpose in life."

"What's that?" Castiel asked.

"To stop the spread of disease" Dean replied. "Do you have more tissues? You're going to need one again soon."

"Okay...I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about though" Castiel said confusedly.

"Like I said, I'll tell you later" Dean promised. "Let's just sleep now."


End file.
